Chapter 1158 - 1155: The Scam
Just as the words were spoken, a faint golden glow appeared around the body of the person who claimed to be the Bodhisattva Guanyin's chief disciple, with a halo that looked like Buddhist light above his head.
This person continued, "I have come to the mortal world by the decree of the Great Guanyin to save everyone. You should join my sect quickly to avert disaster, or you will face great calamity."
"What a sham," Lin Chuan couldn't help but mutter softly.
Despite Lin Chuan's low voice, the so-called disciple heard him. His eyes widened suddenly, and with the golden light around him shaking, he rushed towards Lin Chuan.
This so-called disciple was very fast and clearly someone who had practiced martial arts. With a swift move, he reached Lin Chuan and Qin Fang, staring coldly at Lin Chuan, saying, "You ordinary mortals, failing to recognize my true immortal body, should kneel down and apologize immediately."
Lin Chuan laughed heartily and said, "I kneel to the heavens, the earth, and my parents. You are not worthy to make me kneel."
The so-called disciple was furious, angrily shouting at Lin Chuan, "You ignorant mortals, today I will show you my skills."
Lin Chuan gave a cold laugh and said, "I would like to see what skills this so-called chief disciple of the reincarnated Guanyin has. Come on, let's fight."
Saying it meant doing it. Lin Chuan secretly enhanced his Heavenly Heart Skill with the Sealing Heart Skill, waved his palms, and hit his opponent with sixty percent of his Heavenly Heart Skill's power.
This guy, though also a practitioner, was at Qin Hu's level and simply no match for Lin Chuan. He took Lin Chuan's palm hit head-on and flew backward like a kite with a broken string.
Before he touched the ground, Lin Chuan tapped his feet, leapt into the air, caught up with him swiftly, and kicked him mid-air.
"Ah..."
The man screamed miserably, his body crashing to the ground, right onto the Guanyin statue, which shattered into pieces.
The Guanyin statue was completely exposed from the soil, bringing some other things with it.
Everyone had seen these things before—they were sprouted green beans.
Lin Chuan landed and looked coldly at the guy, who had been beaten by Lin Chuan's palm and foot to the point of spitting blood and nearly fainting.
Seeing the sprouted green beans with the Guanyin statue, Lin Chuan realized that the so-called manifestation of Guanyin was nothing but a scam.
The crowd around them continued to kneel and pray for the Guanyin's forgiveness. Lin Chuan, wanting to expose the fraud, shouted to the crowd, "Don't believe this Guanyin manifestation; it's all lies."
"You're talking nonsense. You've destroyed the statue where Guanyin manifested, and you'll face retribution," an elderly woman in the crowd, still kneeling, cursed angrily.
"What a sin," another old man said as he knelt, tears streaming down his face. "Bodhisattva Guanyin, forgive these people for their ignorance."
Lin Chuan couldn't believe the stubbornness of the ignorant old men and women, who refused to see the truth. Suddenly, he turned, lifted the broken Guanyin statue, and used his right hand to sweep away the soil.
The soil was swept away, revealing a pit filled with sprouted green beans. Lin Chuan stooped to grab a handful of sprouts, held it up toward the crowd, and shouted, "Look, everyone."
Everyone stared in amazement at the bean sprouts in Lin Chuan's hand.
Lin Chuan continued, "This so-called manifestation of the Bodhisattva is fake. Someone put green beans here in advance, buried the Guanyin statue on top, covered it with soil, and watered it every day. After a few days, the beans sprouted and pushed the statue up."
After Lin Chuan's explanation, the people finally understood what had happened. The elderly woman and man who had been kneeling before were now standing up.
"These shameless Taoists, how could they do something so deceitful? I prayed and worried for nothing," the old woman said angrily as she turned to leave.
The old man was also unwilling, spat at the man on the ground, and cursed, "You bunch of worthless rogues, I will never believe in these things again."
The crowd dispersed, cursing, leaving only Lin Chuan, Qin Fang, and the man who claimed to be the chief disciple of the Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Qin Fang became more and more interested in Lin Chuan. What kind of person was this, who could resolve everything so effortlessly?
Lin Chuan went to the one who claimed to be the reincarnated chief disciple of Guanyin, lifted him, and said coldly, "Aren't you supposed to have a true immortal body? Today I'd really like to see if your so-called true immortal body can withstand my punch."
Lin Chuan had no real intention of killing him; he just wanted to scare him into revealing the location of the Maoshan Tao headquarters.
Seeing Lin Chuan raise his fist, the guy panicked and repeatedly said, "Brother, brother, I was wrong. I'm not the reincarnation of the chief disciple of Guanyin, and I'm not a true immortal body. It's all a lie."
Lin Chuan suddenly sneered coldly, "Are you a disciple of the Maoshan Tao?"
Staring into Lin Chuan's icy eyes, the guy immediately felt a chill in his heart and nodded involuntarily.
Seeing the man concede, Lin Chuan asked again coldly, "Is this your Maoshan Tao headquarters?"
The man first nodded, then shook his head and said, "At first, this was our headquarters, but we moved elsewhere a while ago."
Lin Chuan furrowed his brow slightly and asked, "Where did your headquarters relocate to?"
At first, the man refused to speak, but seeing Lin Chuan's expression turn grim, he fearfully said, "It moved to Black Wind Cliff, not far ahead."
Lin Chuan lifted him up and said, "Take us there."
Upon hearing Lin Chuan's request to lead them to the headquarters, the man appeared extremely frightened, stammering, "Brother, please spare me. If the people above find out I led you to the headquarters, you might as well kill me right now."
Lin Chuan ignored his plea and said, "If you don't take us there, you'll suffer far more than now."
As Lin Chuan spoke, his eyes revealed a terrifying glint. Seeing this, the man trembled internally, thinking, going or not going both mean death. It might be better to take them over; there could be a chance to escape.
With this thought, the man stopped speaking, painfully stood up, and led Lin Chuan and Qin Fang towards the back of Heavenly Dao Temple.
They passed a row of houses and followed a narrow path into the back mountain. Without pausing, the man continued down a winding, rugged mountain path.
The Double Dragons Mountain was not particularly steep, lush and emerald with numerous trees growing. Following the man for over an hour, they still hadn't reached the Maoshan Tao headquarters.
The man, already injured by Lin Chuan, having climbed so much mountain path, exhaustedly collapsed under a tree, gasping for breath.
Lin Chuan didn't urge him, allowing him some rest before they continued, but after quite some time, they were still surrounded by trees.
Qin Fang sensed something amiss and said to Lin Chuan, "Lin Chuan, have we been circling in this forest all along?"
Hearing Qin Fang's words, Lin Chuan felt something was indeed off and grabbed the man, saying, "Are you deliberately messing with us?"
The man replied with a pained expression, "Brother, given my state, how dare I mess with you? I'm really unsure; I only remember being led here initially."
"Lin Chuan, don't blame him. There's an array set in the forest, perhaps he's unaware too," Qin Fang said to Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan was slightly stunned and asked, "An array? Can you tell what kind of array it is?"
Qin Fang didn't respond immediately, surveyed the surroundings for a long time, then said, "This is the Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation."
Lin Chuan, surprised again, asked, "What is the Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation?"
With a serious expression, Qin Fang explained, "The Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation is an ancient strategy using the Five Elements and yin and yang changes, combined with the natural contours of the mountains, to form a trapping mechanism."
In ancient China, the Five Elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—complement and counteract each other. Using the principles of mutual generation and inhibition among the elements, along with the unique aura of the mountains, you can strategically set up a Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation in the right place.
The Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation not only exploits the principles of the Five Elements but also incorporates Plum Blossom I-Ching. Originally used in the I-Ching for predicting fortunes, the Plum Blossom I-Ching was creatively evolved by an extraordinary master, Shao Kangjie of the Song dynasty, integrating the Eight Diagrams theory to create various fascinating array formations.
Lin Chuan didn't comprehend these concepts and asked Qin Fang, "Can you break this Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation?"
Qin Fang replied, "I can give it a try, but I've only heard of this type of Nine Palace formation, never seen one."
Left speechless, Lin Chuan could only let Qin Fang try.
Qin Fang retrieved a compact and exquisite compass from his belongings, pacing back and forth, then saying to Lin Chuan, "Let's walk towards the west."
Now Lin Chuan had no choice but to listen to Qin Fang, pulling the man up, they followed Qin Fang heading west. After a long walk, they still hadn't left this forest.
By this time, it was almost noon. If they continued this way, they might not exit the forest until nightfall.